Three-Minute Video Game Identifies Patients with Depression

An experimental diagnostic tool in the form of a computer game was able to quickly identify patients with depression based on anhedonia, a key feature of the disease, a new study shows.

Present in about 70% of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), anhedonia is the loss of the ability to enjoy normally pleasurable things. It is known to shift the point at which individuals decide whether an activity brings them pleasure.

Published online May 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the report describes a low-cost game that reliably identifies patients with MDD in as little as three minutes. The game, based on neurobiological studies, can be played remotely on a smartphone, and its diagnostic accuracy compares well with existing tests, which are typically conducted across several in-person clinic visits, according to the company.

Led by researchers from NYU Langone Health, the study found that individuals previously diagnosed with major depression by standard tests ceased to take pleasure in the game's main activity 50% sooner than healthy subjects.

Aadith Vittala, an MD/PhD student in Glimcher's lab and co-first author of the study, noted that "patients with depression do not seem to be able to adapt their expectations normally as conditions change, which gives us a hint about what is wrong mechanistically in their brains." The researchers are exploring whether a behavioral therapy or medication may help address the "reference point stickiness" observed in these patients.

Co-senior author Dan Iosifescu, MD, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, added that measuring reference points may help identify specific subtypes of depression linked to anhedonia and tailor treatments remotely through the smartphone game, rather than requiring patients to travel for multiple in-person visits.